The signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro is a great achievement, and those who have worked hard to make it possible should be congratulated. But it’s just a start. Dozens of peace deals... Show More + have been signed around the world since the end of World War II. Almost all of them falter at some point, and by my reckoning, almost half of them fail outright.What can be learned from other countries’ experiences? What can be done to make sure this particular effort doesn’t go wrong?Getting a peace agreement to stick is a lot harder than negotiating one. This shouldn’t surprise anyone: Those coming to power after long periods of violence face challenges they’re often ill-prepared for. Resistance movements usually have no experience of formal government. Existing state institutions are often weak, corrupt and resistant to change. Powerful opponents are always ready to undermine the agreement. There is always too much to do, and too much competing advice.And then there’s the psycholo Show Less -

Fifth, new investments will be needed to help strengthen disaster readiness. Given the increasing frequency of extreme weather events in the Philippines, new investments should provide more resilience... Show More + and resistance against future mega disasters. As with all countries - more can be done.There are many good examples from disasters worldwide that show how investments in mitigation can save lives. In Bangladesh, 225 thousand people were killed in 1970 by Cyclone Bhola. In its aftermath, Bangladesh improved its early warning systems and built new cyclone shelters. In 2008, when Cyclone Sidr struck with similar intensity, the impact was still devastating, but the death toll was34 hundred people. What is the World Bank Group doing to provide support to the Filipino people? We are providing technical assistance for the damage and needs assessment that is being undertaken. Our experts include people who have worked on the tsunami that devastated Banda Aceh in 2004. Under the le Show Less -

Given the scale of the devastation in typhoon-affected areas, reconstruction cannot be completed overnight. Reconstruction in Indonesia in 2004 had to be done in phases to meet evolving people’s needs... Show More + while emphasizing speed, quality and sustainability.The first phase required fast action focused on housing, logistics and transport, small infrastructure, and debris cleanup. The second phase, where quality is important, tackled more complex needs of communities for major infrastructure such as roads, bridges, drainage, ports, and water systems. Third phase is for sustainability focused on longer-term livelihoods, economic development and capacity building to sustain the impact of the reconstruction.Not everything can be done at once. Recovery plans need to be prioritized and phased. Reconstruction will take several years to complete. Hence, the country and its leaders will need patience, perseverance, and persistence. But we believe that Filipinos will overcome these challenges. A Show Less -

Policy makers under pressure can get preoccupied with the fixation of the moment. For the eurozone, that idée fixe has been “the firewall”. How big is big enough? Who contributes and how?Now that the eurozone... Show More + finance ministers have exhausted themselves with a multilayered package of hundreds of billions of euros, the debate will go global at this week’s spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The next preoccupation will be how many more hundreds of billions of euros should be pledged to the IMF. It will be Firewall II: the Sequel.I beg to differ. Not with firewalls exactly, but with the preoccupation.The survival of the eurozone now depends on Italy and Spain. They are the countries that are too big to fail – or to rescue. Extraordinary action by the European Central Bank has lowered the interest rates that Italy and Spain pay on their debt, but not solved their problems.In one sense, the much-badgered Germans are right. The fates of Italy and Spain depen Show Less -

This paper appeared on Strategic ReviewBy: Vivi Alatas, the World Bank’s Senior Economist and Poverty Team Leader in JakartaIt is now time for Indonesia to take a wider view of what poverty reduction means.... Show More + The fluidity of poverty underlines the importance of identifying the right blend of policies for Indonesia. “Promotion” policies are needed to help families that are chronically under the poverty line to build better lives for themselves and safeguard future generations from destitution. At the same time, “protection” policies are needed to provide a safety net to catch vulnerable households at risk of falling back into poverty. With the big bang of decentralization, there is also a need to ensure that local governments strive to find local solutions to fight poverty and vulnerability in their regions Show Less -

The drive to overcome extreme poverty and hunger has been at the heart of global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) since their adoption a decade ago. Until the food, fuel and financial... Show More + crises in the last two years, developing countries were making progress in overcoming poverty.In 1981, 52 percent of people in developing countries lived in extreme poverty; by 2005, that share had fallen to 25 percent. Country efforts were paying off right up until the crises, with poverty falling sharply in East Asia, Latin America and in Eastern and Central Europe.But this progress has not been shared by all. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag in overcoming poverty. Hunger and malnutrition rates have been falling, but not fast enough to meet the goal of eradicating hunger by 2015. Too many of the world’s people remain hungry, poor, or vulnerable to poverty, with too few jobs and too little access to services and economic opportunity.The crises only made things worse. The Worl Show Less -